Creative Homeschool Exerience

Busy Day

    Today has been one busy day. The house is still a bit of a mess but with the way the house is situated it’s hard to keep any organized LOL. We really should move but we rent and right now we just can’t afford to move. Maybe some day but I am not to worried about it. We always get by and God has always been there for us no matter what we are going through. So I give it all to him to let us know when it’s the right time to move. But for now we stay here and make the best of it.

    Ok on to my day. Well we woke up and had breakfast of course LOL. Then waited for hubby to come home (he works midnights) and then we were off to a MOMS Club meeting. It’s a wonderful group for SAHM. It’s not a home school group but when I first joined I couldn’t find one in my area so I joined this so boy’s would have some other kids to play with and I have gotten so much from it myself. I was so surprised on how supportive these ladies were about me homeschooling the boy’s. There are even some that used to be teachers and always have a kind word for me. Most (well at least 99% LOL) are Christian women so that helps a lot too. It’s funny how I originally joined for the boy’s but have gotten so much out of myself. I still get questions like how do you do it? And, Oh I don’t have the patients. But not too bad. I do still look for a good home school group though all though I did meet one mom who just started home schooling her son (my oldest sons age) and I got her to join the MOMS Club too so that helps.

    Ok sorry got off track again LOL. Anyway after our monthly membership meeting the boy’s and I had to do some last minute Christmas shopping for my SIL and then for our niece on hubby’s side (she is only 3) I also had to pick-up a few other things. I didn’t know it could be so hard to shop for a three year old girl LOL. We don’t see her much so I don’t know what she is really into and I have boy’s so I am used to buying for boy’s but for some odd reason have a tough time with girls LOL. Maybe it’s because I have boy’s or maybe it’s because growing up I was such a tomboy. Either way it seemed to take forever to find something. The boy’s ended up picking out her gift to be truthful LOL. It’s a McDonalds play set. I know probably not that great of a gift but we had to get something not very expensive as we are in a pinch because of not just Christmas but hubby’s and youngest son’s birthday is Jan 3 so that means more gifts for my youngest son and of course money for plates for our car LOL. That on top of Rent on the first. So we are strapped for cash as they say LOL.

    Got home around 12:30 pm and got the kids lunch and me lunch and then got settled in a bit and started doing school work. This year is so much easier because I am not so much trying to make him do his work. I realized that was just a waste of time. That’s like doing school at home and hello that isn’t what I wanted and why we decided to homeschool (well one of the many  reasons) so this year has been easier. We do phonic and math with a curriculum but everything else we do what his interests are. Like we are studying about volcano’s right now. As well as other things. We finished up about 2:30 pm and I got on the computer to look at a few things and then later I did dishes and my oldest decided to help. It was a slow process LOL but it’s ok it was time together for just him and I. We got each other with the soap and splashed each other too LOL. Yeah I know made a mess but with the busy day we had it was nice to just play around with him. Didn’t make much of a supper since we didn’t get done till later but they ate some canned Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup. Not like that’s how we eat all the time but today we did and they enjoyed it. That has been my busy day. Tomorrow shouldn’t be too bad but I will really need to clean this house LOL!

About Our School

    I thought since this is my first entry I would write about some (not all too many lol) why we started on the road to homeschooling our children. After our oldest son was born we were living in a Neighborhood that I had went to high school in and I really didn’t like the school or what it stood for so I off handedly told my hubby that if we were going to stay here when he got older I would home school him before I would send him to that school.

    Well time went on and we had another son and we ended up moving to another town.  And the boy’s got older. Well it was the summer before my oldest would be entering school.. We were going to send them and then one day during early summer hubby said well how about we home school? I was a little shocked because he had never really said anything about it before. So we talked it over and I went to the library and got just about every book I could find on the subject. I also went online and found out the laws for my state (which is pretty easy no reporting or anything) . I joined some online community’s to talk to other mom’s that home school too since I didn’t know anyone around here that did.

   After all that researching we decided yes we were going to home school. I got some different things bought and some free and began to teach Kindergarten. Before we even really started though he had already learned to count over 100, could add and subtract small numbers and knew all the letters and most of the sounds of the letters. So ½ way through the kindergarten curriculum I had to get more advance stuff for him.

    We are now into our second year of home schooling and I am also working with my youngest too and once again my oldest is catching on really quickly. I am so glad we decided to home school because I honestly believe if we would have sent him he would have become board in school. Because ½ through the kindergarten year in the school my son would have been in I found out from a PS mom that they were still dong letter recognition in class. While my son was reading simple, small books already. They were also not teaching adding or subtraction either. I am not trying to brag (well ok maybe a little but he’s my son I can LOL) but I truly believe he would be board silly in the PS system. Like right now even the math curriculum I have for him I have to skip over some because he is getting board with the repetition. One day we weren’t even doing school I just wanted to see if he could do it. I showed him the basics of adding with carrying over and multiplying with small numbers of course and he caught right on. He won’t even be seven till March and he is doing all this already.

    I don’t want to push too hard and make him hate school but if I see he is in the zone then I do try and teach him a little something more. It’s amazing what he absorbs. He is doing more then I ever did at his age. The one on one time is just making things that much better I think.

   My youngest son I am working on just a little bit of letter recognition (there’s only a few he gets confused with like C and G and a few other’s but not many) and letter sounds. He is catching on pretty quickly too but I don’t want to push him to be like his big brother because he is his own person so I do it at his level. He is a pretty smart kid though too LOL. Right now he’s at an age where he loves doing school work and is always asking me to do more LOL. I try not to give him too much so he doesn’t get sick of it but I try to be encouraging.

    I am hoping to be able to do this all the way through to high school and beyond but I am taking it day by day and as they get older I will let them choose what they want to do but if I do end up putting them in PS they will have to keep their grades up or I will take them right back out. Pray for me that I will continue to do well in our journey of home schooling!